Touch
by Mia Dixon
Summary: Brittany has Haphephobia; the fear of being touched. Santana has recently moved to Ohio, where Brittany lives. How can you be friends with someone you can't touch? Or... how can you love someone you can't touch?
1. 1 Brittany

Brittany S. Pierce is a nineteen year old girl who has been home schooled since primary school and until the end of high school.

She lives with her all-American mother, Susan Pierce, in Ohio. Her Dutch father left eight years ago after a huge fight with her mother. Yes, fight, as in throwing plates, cups, tables, chairs and anything else in sight. Brittany still has a scar on her neck from a plate that hit her.

All her life Brittany has suffered from a mental illness called Haphephobia, the fear of being touched or touching someone, the fear of human contact, but after the fight she witnessed between her parents it got worse.

It started when she was about seven, she wouldn't let strangers touch her. Then when she was around nine she wouldn't let friends or distant relatives touch her, if they did touch she would have a mini panic attack. When she was ten she wouldn't go near anyone except her mother and father. Then the fight happened. She was eleven. After her father left she wouldn't let anyone near her, including her mother. Her mother started to worry and ended up taking her eleven year old daughter to a therapist. It hasn't got worse since then but it has by no means gotten better.

When someone did touch her she would get dizzy and her hands would shake uncontrollably. Her heart rate would accelerate and she would experience lack of breath. She would hyperventilate and sometimes perspire. Basically, the closer the contact got the worse the reaction was.

Having this illness gets Brittany depressed. She can't help it. She wants to be able to give her mother a hug and have friends that she can hug and she wants to be able to have a girlfriend that she can kiss and hold hands with. But, to Brittany, that's all just wishful thinking.

Brittany sees a therapist twice a week about her problem but it doesn't seem to be working. She had tried many other types of treatment but nothing seems to help.

Brittany and her mother had talked about Brittany moving out and living alone but they didn't see that working so they decided that Brittany will stay with her mother until she was better, which they both know will never happen. Brittany knows she can't be cured but now she's lost all hope of getting even a little bit better.


	2. 2 Santana

Santana Lopez, 19, has finished high school and has just moved to Ohio from California with her parents, Maribel and Dr. Alejandro Lopez.

She is a feisty Latina that does not tolerate bullies. She was suspended from her high school twice for beating up bullies. Ironic. The only reason they allowed her to go back… twice, was because the boys were bullying her about her sexuality. They, to, were suspended. After being taken to the police station for numerous things no one messed with her. Luckily all charges were dropped.

It was because of her reputation that they moved away. Her parents thought a fresh start would be good for her. They want her to make new friends so she can forget her bad ways. Santana was surprisingly okay with a fresh start. Most of her friends back home had become enemies, except for Quinn.

Quinn is Santana's best friend, also ex-girlfriend. They ended their relationship on good terms and stayed best friends. Quinn's family is extremely rich so Santana knows that Quinn will visit her a lot.

Her family have been in Ohio for a short amount of time. They have unpacked almost everything. Alejandro and Maribel have looked around a bit but Santana didn't want to. Santana didn't mind moving there but she did miss her friends. She was in a funk for the first week. All she did was stay in her room every day. Her parents weren't happy about this because they wanted their daughter to make wholesome friends, unlike those from California. They want her to start fresh and keep up a good reputation at this new place they're learning to call home.

**Authors Note: Thanks for reading so far. :) I know it's short but these two chapters are just the introduction. The next chapters will be much longer. I hope you stick with this story because I think their relationship could be really interesting :) Thank you.**

**Updates here:**

**Twitter memiadixon**

**Reviews keep me motivated and are much appreciated! :)**


	3. 3 The Spot by the Water

**Note: Querida is darling in Spanish.**

"_Querida_, please finish unpacking the boxes in your new room" Maribel urges her daughter as she kisses her forehead.

"Okay mami. After I unpack can I look around?" Santana asks her mother.

"Really? Uh, I mean, of course you can Santana. Maybe you'll make some new friends." Maribel winks and sends her daughter off to her room. Maribel really wanted her daughter to make fun yet responsible friends.

Santana goes up the stairs and into her new room across from the bathroom. Her parent's bedroom is just down the hall. Santana's room is smaller than her one in California. She has a small desk with an office chair, a closet, her single bed, a chest of drawers and a mini fridge. She has yet to decorate. She has unpacked everything except one box of clothes.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Santana finishes unpacking and runs downstairs in her summer outfit. She was wearing a pair of very short shorts, a tank top and a pair of suspenders. Her hair flowed freely down her shoulders.

"Have fun, _querida._ Make friends!" Mrs. Lopez says as Santana heads towards the front door.

Santana didn't really want to make new friends; she just wanted to look around this new place she's supposed to call home.

"I will!" She says just to please her mother.

After about twenty minutes of walking Santana sees a small area that overlooks the water. She sits on the grass and hangs her legs over the edge so her toes are just touching the water.

She sits there for about half an hour just thinking about the move to Ohio, her friends back home, Quinn, her parents and what life will be like living here.

When she gets home she sees her parents talking to someone that lives across the street. Her mother seems to be in deep conversation with a tall blonde woman while her father looks completely bored.

Her parents finally get back, Maribel looking very happy while Alejandro just carries on unpacking the last few boxes.

"She was very nice! Her name is Susan Pierce." Maribel exclaims excitedly to her daughter.

"Cool." Santana says, unenthusiastically.

"She has a nineteen year old daughter, Brittany. Maybe you could make friends with her." Maribel says.

"Maybe." She says.

"Oh, I almost forgot, did you meet anyone while you were out?" Maribel asks eagerly. Santana slowly starts to walk upstairs.

"Mami, I just went to look around, not to meet people." Santana replies with a thick Spanish accent. With that said she goes up to her room.

"Give it time my sweetheart. She's only been out once and I'm sure she'll make friends soon." Alejandro encourages his wife while massaging her shoulders.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx**

The next day Santana heads out to the spot by the water again only to find someone sitting there. All she can see of this girl is her back with her long blonde hair flowing down it.

"Hi" Santana says to the mystery girl.

The girl swings her head around in shock. Brittany didn't recognize the person who said hi. She also didn't know that someone else knew about this spot by the water.

"Um… hi." Brittany manages to stutter. She always worried when someone introduced themselves because they didn't know about her illness.

"A-are you new here?" Brittany asks.

"Yeah, my parents and I just moved here from California." Santana says with confidence. Santana is naturally a confident person, she'll talk to anyone.

Santana moves closer to the blonde, Brittany starts to worry inside because she doesn't know how close this girl is going to get.

"I'm Santana." She extends her hand as she introduces herself. Now Brittany was really worried because she couldn't shake the pretty Latina's hand but she didn't want to seem rude.

"Uh, I'm Brittany." Brittany just looked at the extended hand which confused Santana. Santana finally gave up and let her hand fall to her side.

Santana sat next to the lengthy blonde but Brittany moved over as she sat down. This confused, and slightly offended, Santana but she concluded that Brittany just felt a little claustrophobic. They were now sitting about two and a half feet apart.

"Hey, you're Brittany Pierce, right?" Brittany nodded, thinking that Santana had heard about the 'Freak of Ohio'.

"My mami met your mum yesterday." Santana tells Brittany. Brittany was relieved.

"Oh, is your mum Maribel?" Santana nodded in response.

"My mami said we should make friends." Santana says laughing.

"Oh. I don't think you'll want to be friends with me." Brittany says as her smile disappears.

"Huh? Why not?" Santana looks confused again.

Brittany thought to herself for a moment. [_I should just tell her. She'll find out anyways. It's better to tell her now instead of becoming friends then having her ditch me when she finds out, just like the others did.]_

"I, uh, have a mental illness called Haphephobia. It's a phobia of touching or being touched by someone. The fear of physical, human contact." Brittany doesn't look up at Santana because she doesn't want to see her reaction.

She gets worried when Santana doesn't respond. "Basically if you're my friend you won't be able to touch me and I won't touch you or get that close either. It's not personal." Brittany looks very sad as she speaks which breaks Santana's heart.

Santana couldn't imagine going through what Brittany goes through everyday. She feels a lump form in her throat.

Brittany can feel tears forming in her eyes because Santana still hasn't responded.

"Please say something." Brittany says as a tear falls from her eye.

"I… I can't imagine how hard that must be." Santana says sympathetically. Brittany is slightly relieved when Santana finally responds.

"But," Brittany holds her breath as Santana says that dreaded word, "That doesn't stop me from wanting to be your friend, if you'll let me." Santana says in a sweet voice.

Brittany looks at the Latina in utter shock. Anyone she had tried to make friends with in the past had ditched her as soon as she mentioned her phobia.

"Really?" Brittany asks in excitement. Santana nods and laughs, Brittany joins in the laughter.

"Thank you. People always ditch me when I tell them." Brittany tells Santana.

"Well those people are… stupid." They both laugh at Santana's remark.

They talk for an hour or so, getting to know little things about each other, then the subject lands on Brittany's phobia again.

"It's hard because I really want to be able to touch someone or hold hands with someone or hug someone or ki… but I can't." Brittany lets a small tear roll down her cheek.

"Sorry." She says as she wipes away the tear, "I never talk about this with anyone but my shrink and sometimes my mum so this is, um, kind of new for me. I never really had any friends."

"You don't need to apologize. You can talk to me anytime." Santana says trying to comfort the blonde. She didn't know how to comfort someone without touching them. She would usually give them a hug or rub their back.

"You got a phone, right?" Brittany nods in response. "How about I give you my number and maybe we can hang out again."

Brittany smiles then puts her phone on the grass near to Santana. Santana types in her number and takes a picture of herself for the caller ID. She then puts the phone back on the grass. Brittany picks up her phone and looks at the picture alongside the number. She smiles. They then do the same with Santana's phone and Brittany's number.

"Thank you so much, this really means a lot." Brittany says as her smile grows.

"No need to thank me." Santana says as she stands up.

"I should probably get back or my parents will start to worry." Santana says as Brittany also stands up.

"Yeah, me too. It was nice meeting you." Brittany says, still about three feet away from Santana.

"Same. I'll call you or text you when I'm free." Santana says.

"Great." They then go their separate ways.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

That night Santana thinks about the pretty blonde she met earlier. She likes the girl and wants to be her friend but she's scared of overstepping some sort of boundary with her phobia. She knows Brittany has been hurt by many so called 'friends' before so she didn't want to screw up this new found friendship.

Brittany thinks about Santana that night. She so happy that she finally found a friend who doesn't care about her phobia but she's scared that Santana will forget about her as soon as she meets someone else.

They both fall asleep, thinking about the other and how this new friendship would work.

**Authors note: Thanks to everyone you favourited, reviewed, story alerted? lol I really appreciate it all. (Especially those who followed me on twitter ;)) Also thank you for reading.**

**Updates here:**

**Twitter: miadokay**

**Please tell me what you want more of and what you want less of so I can please you all. :)**

**Please review to keep me motivated. Thank you.**


	4. 4 Nightmares and Inspiration

**Authors Note: Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I will try to update faster.**

**Thank you for correcting my Spanish! :P**

**I'd just like to say that this story is all me. I didn't steal the idea from anyone! I did a lot of research for this story and I put a lot of effort into writing it so please don't accuse me of stealing something that I've worked so hard on. **

**Thank you all for your reviews and favourites and follows!**

Brittany wakes up at seven thirty in the morning, as she does every week day. Usually she wakes up and feels depressed but ever since last week she's been feeling a lot happier. She and Santana had been hanging out everyday since they met. They really connected.

After Brittany finishes getting washed and dressed she skips happily across the street to Santana's house. She taps on the front door three times and waits for an answer.

The smile that was plastered on her face immediately dropped when the last person she expected to see opened the door. Noah Puckerman.

Noah Puckerman had the reputation of the bad-ass of Lima, Ohio. About two months ago he and Brittany met. They hit it of at first; he was accepting of her condition, they hung out all the time. Then Puck made his move. It turns out the whole friendship had been a lie to Puck. He had made a bet with his friends. If he could get into the pants of 'The Freak of Lima' then his friends would give him tickets to the latest basketball game. This devastated Brittany. She didn't leave the house for two weeks and barely ate.

"Hey sexy." Puck says with a smirk as he leans against the door frame.

"What are you doing here, Noah? I came to see Santana." Brittany says, trying not to make eye contact.

"Oh, you came to see Santana?" He teases as he snickers.

Puck's laughter is then joined by Santana's. She walks up from behind him and stands by his side.

"God, she's so needy." Santana says to Puck then they both start to laugh again.

Brittany feels a lump form in her throat as she tries to hold back her tears.

"Listen loser! Why would I, or anyone, want to be your friend?" Santana derided as Puck puts his arm around her shoulder.

"You're a freak and no one will ever love you." Santana sneered.

When Santana said that, Brittany couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears. Santana and Puck, on the other hand, burst into hysterical laughing. They started to poke Brittany which made them laugh even more. Brittany could feel her chest tightening and her hands starting to shake.

"Stop! Stop it! Please! Leave me alone!" She desperately pleaded bit Puck and Santana just laughed louder.

"Brittany? Brittany, wake up! Are you okay? Wake up." Brittany's mother ran into Brittany's bedroom after she had heard Brittany screaming.

Brittany suddenly sat up in her bed, extremely out of breath.

"Brittany? Did you have that nightmare again, sweetie?" Susan asks.

"Yeah, kind of. But it was different this time," Brittany says once she had calmed down a little. She glances at her clock: 7:16

"How so?" Susan asks her daughter gently.

"You know the girl I met two days ago? Santana?" Susan nodded in response. "She was there... with Puck. They were... laughing at me and calling me names and, and then they started, um, poking me and and" Brittany started to get panicky again as her nightmare replayed in her head. Susan tries to calm her daughter from a distance.

"Shh, sweetie, it's all okay now. It was just a dream. That's not going to happen, ever. Okay?" Susan said in a very calm tone.

"Okay, mama." Brittany always calls her mother 'mama' in situations like this. It made her feel like a little kid again and feel protected.

"How about you call Santana and ask if she's free to hang out with you today?" Susan asks.

"Mama, you know I'm not confident like that. I can't just ask her if she wants to hang out." Brittany looked worried as she spoke.

"I know, sweetie. I'm sorry. How about I invite the whole family over?" Susan asks while Brittany climbs out of bed.

"Mm. Okay." Brittany says as she tidies her bed.

"Good, I'll call Maribel now." Susan says with a smile as she leaves the room.

"Okay, I'll be down in like an hour." Brittany tells her mother. Susan nods in response then walks down the stairs.

_Later that evening_

Susan Pierce opens her front door to see Maribel and Santana standing on the porch holding a bottle of wine and a tub of ice cream.

"Hi, Susan! How are you?" Maribel said loudly as she kissed each of Susan's cheeks.

"Hi! It's a shame Alejandro couldn't make it." Susan said. Maribel nodded in agreement.

Brittany was sitting on the living room couch watching them all greet each other with hugs and kisses.

Susan then turned her attention to Santana, who was still standing on the porch.

"Let me take these for you, sweetheart." Susan said, taking the wine and ice cream from Santana.

"Come in, make yourself at home. Brittany is just over there." Susan said with a smile as she gestured towards to couch.

"Thanks" Santana said as she walked over to where Brittany was sitting.

"Heya, how you doing?" Santana asked as she seated herself at the opposite end to Brittany on the couch.

"Uh, I'm okay. Thanks. You?" Brittany said nervously.

"I'm good thanks!" Santana answered as she directed a smile at Brittany. Brittany subtly returned the smile.

"Hey girls" Susan said as she walked into the living room and put the plates of dinner on the table.

"Brittany, can you move to your seat please." Susan said as she went back to the kitchen to get some more things for dinner.

Brittany hopped up from the couch and jumped into her armchair.

Brittany was sitting in her armchair, Santana was sitting on the left side of the couch, closest to Brittany's chair, Maribel was sitting next to Santana and Susan was sitting in the other armchair.

They all ate dinner as they chatted about random topics together. Now that all the plates were clear food, Susan collected them and took them to the kitchen. She then came back out with some cake and ice cream for dessert.

Everyone grabbed a spoon and filled their bowls. Noises of appreciation were heard around the room as they all devoured their dessert.

After dessert the two adults started talking about politics and things of the like.

Santana tried her best to stifle a yawn to express her boredom. She turned to look at Brittany to find Brittany already looking at her.

"Tired?" Brittany mumbled.

"Bored." Santana replied. Brittany nodded and smiled.

"Same." Brittany said. They both let out a small giggle while still looking at each other.

Santana surveyed the room. Maribel and Susan had very serious looks on their faces and weren't paying any attention to the two young girls.

"Hey, wanna get out of here?" Santana asked Brittany. Brittany looked worried. She had no idea what Santana had in mind and that scared her half to death. Santana sensed the worry in Brittany's eyes.

"Don't worry. We won't do anything out of your comfort zone. We can just go for a walk if you want." Santana said to Brittany in a warm voice. The Latina was taken by surprise when she realized how sweet she had sounded. She never talks to anyone in such a warm way.

Brittany's heart melted when she heard Santana say those kind words.

"So? What do ya say?" Santana said with a grin.

"Uh, yeah. Sure!" Brittany said as she slowly mirrored Santana's grin.

"Ma!" Santana said loudly which grasped her mother's attention.

"Santana! Can't you see I'm in the middle of-" Before Maribel could finish her sentence, Santana cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah. So sorry. Me and Brittany are gonna go out for a bit." Santana interrupted.

"Have you asked Miss Pierce?" Maribel asked.

"Seriously? Miss Pierce?" Santana chuckled at the formal name.

"Miss Pierce, would it be alright if I take your daughter out for a bit?" Santana asked Susan.

"Of course you can, sweetie." Susan replied with a smile.

"See, ma? Of course I can." Santana said to her mother.

"Santana, watch your tone." Maribel said in a warning tone. Santana just shrugged it off.

"See ya!" Santana waved as she walked towards the door. "Come on." She beckoned Brittany in a kind manner. Santana wondered to herself why she was being so nice but didn't come to any logical reason.

Santana and Brittany walked over the street together to the Lopez residence.

"Wanna go for a drive in my dad's convertible?" Santana asked Brittany.

"Um, are you sure that's okay with him?" Brittany asked nervously.

"Yeah, it's no problem. Come on!" Santana encouraged.

Santana open the door to the passenger's seat for Brittany.

"Um, I uh, I think I'd kinda rather sit in the backseat." Brittany mumbled.

Santana immediately understood what Brittany was trying to say and opened the door for the backseat.

"No problem!" Santana said with a big smile which made Brittany feel at ease.

Brittany climbed into the backseat and Santana hopped in the front.

"So what kinda music are you into?" Santana asked as she backed out the driveway.

"Anything and everything." Brittany answered.

"Me too" Santana replied with a giggle then pressed play on her iPod.  
As they set off Santana subconsciously started singing along to the song.

"Kiss me like you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved, you wanna be loved." Santana sung along.

Brittany was in the backseat looking diagonally at Santana. She was completely mesmerized by the Latina's raspy, but pure, vocals.

"This feels like falling in love" Santana continued. Brittany couldn't help but get lost in Santana's voice.

"Well?" Was the next thing Brittany heard Santana say. Brittany hadn't realized how oblivious she had been to everything but Santana.

"Um, I, uh, sorry, what did you say?" Brittany asked nervously.

"Do you want to go to the beach?" Santana chuckled.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Sorry." Brittany stuttered.

"Don't worry bout it. You alright back there?" Santana asked as she turned her head to the backseat briefly to look at Brittany.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. I just, uh, like that song. I kind of got lost." Brittany nervously chuckled.

"I know right, that song is beautiful." Santana agreed.

"It is. I love all of Ed Sheeran's songs."

"Me too. He's amazing." Santana said.

Santana and Brittany walk side by side on along the beach, with some distance between them of course.

The sun was setting and the waves were washing against the shore. There were no other people in sight.

"I haven't been on the beach here yet. It's beautiful." Santana said while strolling next to Brittany.

"It really is. I come here at five thirty in the morning on the weekends. Sunrise is incredible." Brittany said as she watched the sun.

"Wow, that must be awesome." Santana said.

"It is. I love hearing the waves wash against the shore. It inspires me." Brittany expressed.

"Inspires you? To do what?" Santana asked in a soft voice.

"Well, um, I uh..." Brittany struggled to express herself.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Santana said with a small smile.

"I dance." Brittany blurted out.

"You dance?" Santana asked to make sure she heard Brittany right. Brittany nodded in response.

"That's awesome!" Santana said.

"What do you like to do?" Brittany asked.

"Anything with music. I love to dance and sing. I used to be a cheerleader."

"That's really cool. I, uh, heard you singing in the car actually." Brittany said with a subtle smile.

"What? I was singing?" Santana asked with confusion.

"Yeah, it was really good. Like, really really good." Brittany chuckled.

Santana blushed at Brittany's compliment and a big grin appeared on her face.

"Why thank you." Santana managed to say through her smile.

"So, do you dance in front of people?" Santana asked.

"Never." Brittany giggled. "It's like this special place I go to where I can just let out every emotion that I always have to bottle up. Everything I feel inside, I can just let out through dance. Like a vent... I, uh, am I rambling?" Brittany let out.

"Not at all." Santana said, looking at Brittany, touched by her words. Brittany looked at Santana and their eyes locked.

"I, uh, um, we should get back, right?" Santana stuttered. She had shocked herself when she attempted to speak. _Why am I stuttering? What the hell. What was that? Was that a moment? I have no idea what just happened..._ Santana thought to herself.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure." Brittany stuttered.

"Uh, where did I park?" Santana asked in confusion as she looked around.

Brittany giggled, "Just there." She said as she pointed to the car.

"Oh. Right, thanks." Santana laughed nervously.

They both walked to the car and climbed in their preferred seats, Brittany in the back and Santana in the driver's seat.

"I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow. If you want to of course. Uh..." Santana said with a nervous smile as got out the car in the driveway.

"Sure, that'd be great." Brittany said, suddenly feeling more confident.

"Great!" Santana smiled. They waved to each other and went their separate ways.

**Authors Note… Again: Thanks for reading. Any ideas you have for the story, let me know! :) **

**I made a twitter account just for Fanfic related things. Ask me anything you want! Or we can just chat :) miadokay**


	5. 5 Early-riser Late-riser

**AN: Here it is! Chapter 5. Been a bit busy with life and stuff so it took a while but it's here. Thanks for the support thus far. (: In the next chapter I'll pick my favourite review and reply so don't forget to leave one. Thanks. **

It was early morning. Well, it was what Santana called early. 9:30 am. Brittany had brought breakfast to her house at 8:30 but Santana refused to get out of bed when her mother told her to. So, 9:30am. Santana walked slowly down the stairs, rubbing her eye, in her pyjamas (A black tank top and loose trousers). Her hair was messy and she yawned every couple seconds but she was hungry so she didn't care.

She stumbled into the kitchen with tired eyes to find her mother washing the dishes. "Ah, I see someone decided to enter the land of the living." Her mother said sarcastically. "Brittany brought you breakfast an hour ago, Querida. She's in the living room watching TV."

"Huh, really?" Santana chuckled to herself. "What's so funny?" Maribel asked with curiosity. "Oh, nothing. We were texting last night. Uh, inside joke." Santana tried to explain. "Well I'm happy to hear you're making friends." Maribel said with pride.

"Yeah yeah, where's the food?" Santana asked eagerly. "It's with Brittany in the living room." Her mother answered.

Santana walked into the living room laughing. "Really?"

"Mhm, yep. Okay," Brittany started as she pulled the food out the bags. "We have croissants, Danish pastries, and mini lemon tarts." Brittany said in all seriousness.

"You are crazy." The messy-haired brunette joked. "Am not. You need to eat breakfast, everyone knows that. It's healthy." Brittany said simply with a smile plastered on her face which Santana couldn't help but mirror.

"And, of course, I have your beloved coffee." That was all it took for Santana to agree to eat breakfast. "My beloved coffee." Santana said as if the coffee was a precious diamond.

Santana took her coffee in both hands and sat on the floor next to Brittany, with a considerable amount of space in-between them, of course.

It had been a little over a week since the two met. They instantly made friends but each of them had a little worry in the back of their minds. Brittany, understandably, was worried that Santana might give up on her soon and very easily, so she was scared to get attached. Santana, on the other hand, was terrified of doing something to hurt or scare Brittany. She didn't know why she felt so protective over the blue-eyed blonde. I mean, they barely knew each other. They had had about four deep conversations about fairly intimate subjects. Maybe that's why they connected so quickly. The frequent texting and messaging added to it too of course.

"Here, you have the last one." Santana said as she slid the last mini lemon tart across the floor to Brittany. "No no, it's all yours." Brittany said sliding it back. "No, you have it." The brunette replied sliding it, once again, to Brittany. "Well we don't want to fight now, do we?" The blonde said then took a bite from the tart and put the other half next to Santana. "There." Santana and Brittany laughed together. "Fine, that's fair." Santana said as she ate her half. "Yep." Brittany replied, looking quite proud of herself.

"Santana, there's someone here to see you." Maribel said in an unusually excited voice. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" Santana said in defence and confusion. She turned around to see her mother move aside from the living room doorway then a familiar face entered the room. All the confusion left Santana's mind when she saw who it was. She immediately jumped up in excitement and ran to said person.

"Babyyyyyy!" Santana shrieked as she ran into Quinn's arms. Quinn squinted in pain as she heard the shriek but a huge grin also appeared on her face. She lifted Santana of the ground in an enormous hug.

Quinn finally put Santana back on the ground to let her breath. "Babe, what are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? How long have you been here?" Santana rambled, not allowing any time for Quinn to answer.

"San, san. Santana. Babe. Honey? San!" Quinn tried to stop Santana's rambling but it was useless. "SANTANA LOPEZ WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME SPEAK… please?" Finally Quinn managed to get Santana's attention. "God, I missed you." Was all Santana said in reply then wrapped her arms around her best friend again. Quinn smiled and giggled at the small brunette's funny ways.

"You've barely been gone two weeks, Hun." Quinn chuckled. "Yeah, but we barely ever go a day without seeing each other. I'm not used to it." Santana defended. "Me neither." Quinn agreed.

"Anyways, why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Santana asked, still slightly confused. "You usually know when I'm coming." Quinn said in a naughty voice with a wink. "Quinn!" Santana shouted in embarrassment as she playfully slapped the blonde on the arm. "Still like to slap me I see." Quinn joked again. "Stop! You are so rude!" Santana shouted. "Wow. Santana Lopez calling someone rude! I am shocked." Quinn teased playfully.

"Ha. Ha. Okay, you've had your fun. Do you want a drink or something… don't make that into a dirty joke!" Santana said when she saw the mischievous look on her friend's face. "You read my mind like a book." Quinn said playfully. "Oh, I didn't tell you I was coming 'cause I know you hate surprises." The visitor said while laughing. Santana gave her a signature glare then joined in the laughter. "Also, I would like a drink. Gin and tonic please." Quinn said as seriously as she could. Santana laughed and said, "I'll get you a coffee."

Maribel let out a huge sigh after watching Santana and Quinn's conversation escalate. Brittany, still sitting on the living room floor, was quite surprised at what she had just witnessed "I'll get the coffee. You two go sit in the living room." Maribel offered, attempting to get out of their way. "Thanks, Mrs. L!" Quinn said in reply before being pulled into the living room by Santana.

"Q, this is Brittany." Santana said motioning to said person, who was now standing. "Britt, this is Quinn." Santana and Quinn shared a knowing look. Santana had talked about Brittany to Quinn to avoid any unwanted situations with her phobia. "I've heard a lot about you. Santana speaks highly of you." Quinn laughed knowing that she was embarrassing Santana. Brittany shifted on her feet awkwardly. She laughed uncomfortably and said, "Santana's talked about you too."

"Oh yeah? Has she been telling you how awesome I am?" Quinn boasted. "Oh shut it, Quinn." Santana laughed. "And how I'm a great singer and dancer," she continued. "Great at sports," Santana rolled her eyes in a joking manner. "Oh, can't forget this one. How amazing I am in bed?" Quinn emphasized. "Quinn! Stop embarrassing me!" Santana shouted as she pushed the blonde onto the couch. "You're coming with me!" Quinn shouted as she pulled Santana down onto the couch. "Oh am I?" Santana said suggestively. Quinn raised an eyebrow and replied with, "Hell yes!" They both burst into laughter as Santana sat on Quinn's lap.

Brittany cleared her throat awkwardly. "Hey, uh, San?" Santana turned her attention to the taller blonde. "I'm gonna leave you two to catch up and stuff, k?" Brittany continued. "You can stay if you want. It's no problem." The brunette replied sincerely. "Its fine, I got some stuff to do anyways." Brittany said with a small smile. "You two have fun." She said then waved them goodbye. "See you soon, Britt." Santana was a little disappointed that Britt was leaving. "Nice meeting you!" Quinn called out.

Once Brittany had left Quinn turned to Santana. "Where were we?" She said and immediately locked lips with the brunette. Santana was taken by surprise but soon eased into the kiss. Quinn slowly pushed Santana until she was lying flat on the couch with the blonde on top of her.

Their make out sessions were never deep or meaningful. They do it mostly for fun, to show their physical attraction to one another. They were both hot and good kissers so why not? Quinn's hand slowly moved under Santana's shirt to feel her toned abs. Santana moaned quietly which Quinn took as her queue to keep going so she moved her hand up further. "My mum is still here. We shouldn't do this now." Santana tried to argue but it was useless.

Maribel had been busying herself in the kitchen to escape the noise. When she realized that there was silence in the living room she decided to bring them their drinks. When she walked in the room she was neither surprised nor was she disgusted. She was used to it, to say the least. Santana and Quinn had been dating on and off for a very long time. Maribel had seen them have huge arguments and she had seen quite the opposite, much to her displeasure. She never understood why they couldn't just give up and be friends. She finally gave up trying to understand and just let it be.

Maribel made sure she made a lot of noise in the kitchen so Quinn and Santana would know she's there, therefore would not go any further. Meanwhile, Santana's hands had found their way to Quinn's ass while Quinn's hands were on Santana's back under her shirt. They desperately moved around each other's bodies, trying to find more skin to grab. Quinn moved away from Santana's lips and started kissing her neck. She sucked and nipped at the Latina's smooth caramel skin. Santana arched her back and threw her head back at the feeling of Quinn's tongue on her body.

Maribel had been out running errands the whole day, she finally arrived back home at around 11pm, luckily the two girls were just resting on the couch while watching some trashy TV show.

"Hi girls." She greeted. She got a 'hey' and a 'hi' in response. "Quinn, would you like me to set up the guest room for you?" Maribel asked.

Quinn turned around to look at Maribel, "I think I'll be fine thanks, Mrs. L." She replied, getting a naughty look from Santana. Maribel gave a short nod then left the room. She had given up trying to control Santana's sex life. When she had in the past it either didn't work or made things worse. Also she knew it was completely impossible to stop her daughter and Quinn. They were like magnets when it came to the physical  
-

*beep beep*

Santana moaned when she was awoken by her phone. _I didn't set an alarm_. She thought_. Who the hell would contact me at this ungodly hour?_ She managed to open one eye to see the clock. 7:02Am. _Brittany._ She thought. She closed her eyes again attempting to sleep. _Brittany._ She thought again. She couldn't sleep knowing there was a message from the sweet blonde awaiting her reply._ Ugh_. She said internally. She reached her arm out with closed eyes and managed to locate her phone on her bedside table. She squinted at the phone because of the bright light.

From: Brittany  
_Eat breakfast. x_

The short, simple text from the blonde made Santana grin from ear to ear. She quickly tapped out a reply then curled up in her bed covers next to a sound asleep Quinn.

From: Santana  
O_nly if you join me._

Brittany was surprised to get a reply right away. She usually received texts from Santana no earlier than 10am. She was happy, nonetheless.

Santana heard another noise come from her phone. _Ugh. It's too early._ She thought briefly. _But it's Brittany._ She then grabbed her phone to read the text.

From: Brittany  
_Deal. What are doing up so early by the way? You're scaring me_.

Santana smile once again at Brittany's text.

From: Santana  
_Oh I'm not up. And I'm not getting up! Goodnight. Haha_.

From: Brittany  
_Oops, did I wake you? :S You should try getting up early sometime, it's nice outside at this time._

From: Santana  
_Outside? No one should even be out of bed at this hour. And, yes you did wake me. Haha_

From: Brittany  
_Yes, outside. The air is fresh and there's a breeze. It's beautiful, San. Oh, sorry about waking you._

From: Santana  
_Where are you anyways? And, I'm sure it's nice outside... just a lot nicer in bed. You should be sorry. Lol_

From: Brittany  
_At the place where we met. :) I come here after my morning jog. You really should join me sometime._

From: Santana  
_Mm. We'll see... that means never by the way. :P_

From: Brittany  
_Mm. Just as I thought. Haha. I'll let you get some more sleep if you want?_

From: Santana  
_Haha, thanks. I'll text you when I'm up. Talk to you soon, Britt. :) xx_

From: Brittany  
_Alright. Sleep well, San. xx_

Santana smiled at the last text she received. She smiled at every text she received. Well, every text from Brittany. She didn't only smile at texts from the blue-eyed beauty. She smiled at pictures, messages, smiles, jokes, even simple looks from the blonde. Pretty much everything so far about Brittany had made Santana smile. Even hearing the name 'Brittany' made her smile. Seeing it written in her phone made her smile. Saying the name made her smile. She hadn't realized just yet how much the girl across the street made her smile.

7:24am and Santana was laying in bed, wide awake. She knew very well why she couldn't sleep. She didn't want to admit it though. She looked to her side to see Quinn fast asleep and envied the peacefully sleeping blonde. Santana checked her phone out of sheer boredom. No new messages. She sighed heavily then got out of bed, carefully trying not to wake her friend.

Santana felt awake. She felt alive, like she wanted to do something. She wanted to start the day. Santana never felt like this. She always thought it was absurd to get out of bed at this time of day. But ever since she stopped texting Brittany that morning, she felt bored. Usually she fell asleep seconds later but after they mentioned eating breakfast together, Santana couldn't get that thought out her head. She wanted to see the tall, blue-eyed blonde. Why wait until half the day is over when you can just see her right now? Santana thought. With that thought, she walked into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, showered and washed her hair. The bathroom was down the hall from Santana's room so the hairdryer didn't wake Quinn. She quickly put her makeup on and got dressed then ran down the stairs.

"Santana? Wha- what are you doing up?" Maribel said, clearly stunned. "I, uh, wasn't tired?" Santana offered. She was telling the truth, just not the whole truth. "You? Not tired?" Maribel laughed. "Yeah, uh, I'm gonna go for a walk." Maribel was still stunned when Santana had left the house.

Santana stopped by a shop to pick up breakfast for her and Brittany. Then she walked a bit to get to that spot by the water. When she arrived she saw just what she expected to see, a beautiful girl sitting on the grass, her legs hanging over the edge to touch the water. Her blonde hair rested on her back perfectly with the sun shining on her gently. Santana stood behind her for a second, with a goofy smile plastered on her face, just taking in the view.

"Hey you." Santana said which caused Brittany to jump slightly. "You? Hi. What are you doing here?" Brittany said in disbelief as she turned to see the brunette. "I bought us some breakfast." She said as the goofy smile reappeared. "Aw, you didn't have to. I know how you love your sleep." They both laughed a little at the very true statement. "Yes well... I don't know. You made outside sound appealing." Santana responded. Brittany saw right through her, she knew that wasn't the real reason but she didn't bother to pry.

They had been sitting there and eating for about half an hour when Santana asked, "So what about animals?" Brittany was confused about the out-of-the-blue question. Santana sensed the confusion so she elaborated. "I mean, can you touch them?"

"Oh. Yeah, some. I find it hard with bigger animals but I love small ones." Brittany expressed. "I've always _really_ wanted a hamster, mostly because of an awesome cartoon I watched when I was young, but my mum hates them. Something to do with her childhood, I don't really know." She shrugged. They both laughed together then fell into a comfortable silence for a while.

"You're right." Santana said, breaking the silence. "Huh?" Brittany replied in confusion. "You're right. It's beautiful here in the morning." The late-riser mused. "Yeah, it is. It's nice to share the view with someone." The early-riser said as she looked to the Latina. They locked eyes for a few moments then looked away shyly.

Santana and Brittany arrived at the Lopez's house at around 9:00am. Santana stood in the doorway, "Are you sure you don't wanna come in?" She asked. "I can't right now. Maybe later?" The blonde replied. Before Santana could answer, Quinn walked up from behind her.

"Why are you up so early, babe?" Quinn mumbled as she stood there in Santana's previously worn t-shirt and a pair of short shorts. Santana turned slightly to see Quinn who immediately caught the Latina's lips in her own. Quinn stopped as soon as she saw Brittany standing at the door. "Oh, hey Brittany." She said to the taller blonde. "Ah, so this is why you're up early." Quinn said implying the obvious. "Q, go shower. You smell. Go!" Santana said slapping Quinn's ass as she left. "Sorry bout that," Santana said awkwardly. "So, um, see you later?" She offered. "Yeah sure." Brittany replied, a little taken back by seeing the two girls kiss. Santana also wished Brittany hadn't seen them kiss. She didn't fully understand why she felt that way yet. On the other hand, the blonde knew very well why she didn't enjoy seeing it.

**AN: Don't panic! THIS IS A BRITTANA STORY. Quinn/Santana are just helping the storyline. Sorry if there are any mistakes, I did check multiple times. I have the next chapter planned so it shouldn't be too long until then.**

**PM me or tweet me (Follow for updates. Ask questions!): miadokay **

**Please don't be shy, tell me what you like or what you didn't like. Your reviews make my day. (: Remember, I'll pick my favourite review for the next chapter. Till next time!**


	6. 6 Alfonzo

**OnlyBrittana0604** - Thanks for reading and reviewing! By the way, I love your story 'If Only I Could Fight This Feeling'! :)

**t** – Completely agree with the Puck comparison. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)

**GudrunGleek** - Thanks so much for reading. Hope you stick with it! :)

**keekee33** – Thanks for reviewing. Completely agree with you, Ashtray. :P

**A/N: I put 'Quinntana' in the story to kind of show what Santana is naturally like. She's a physical person and I used Quinn to show that.**

"I think the little brown and white one… or maybe the golden one… or the white one…" Santana said to the middle-aged man who was now looking at his watch. Her face was full of confusion and maybe a little nervousness. "Miss, you've been here almost an hour. It's really not that hard." The man was extremely nice and helpful at the start but now he was starting to lose his patience.

"It has to be the perfect one. What would I do if she didn't like it?" The brunette lady said in response as she wiped her slightly sweaty hands on her t-shirt discreetly. The man, who was trying to help, sighed. "Okay. I suggest this one. Let me show you."

He directed the indecisive Latina to a small cage at the back of the shop. The cage had about twenty little grey and white hamsters running around or sleeping. "These are Russian Dwarf hamsters." The man informed Santana.

A small smile appeared on the Latina's face at the sight. "They're so cute."

She put her hand in a cage and picked out a tiny fellow. The under part of his body was all white but the top part was light grey. Also there was a dark grey streak down his back. He had little black beady eyes and tiny perky pinkish ears. His petite pink paws patted around on Santana's tanned hands. He stood up on his hind legs for a moment and sniffed the air around him and with that Santana had her mind made up.

"I'll take this one." Santana told the man as she smiled at the little cutie; the hamster, that is.

The man let out a sigh of relief as he got out a small carrier bag for the hamster.

Santana also bought a cage, sawdust, a food bowl, food, a water bottle and a hamster wheel, just to name a few things. She paid for said things at the counter, thanked the helpful – not to mention tolerant – man and made her way home.

Brittany was listening to music loudly in her room. The beautiful notes ran through her body as she twirled and spun and jumped. She was in her element and it was breathtaking. Brittany went to kick her leg out to the beat but her small table in her tiny room had different ideas. Her foot smashed against the edge of the wooden table which elicited a loud yelp from the blonde dancer. She limped over to her bed to sit down, picking up her vibrating phone on the way.

"Hey San," She spoke into the phone and she clutched her, now throbbing, ankle while sitting on her bed.

"Hey, B, are you free?" Santana said, smiling at the sound of her friend's voice but then quickly catching it.

"Uh, yeah sure," Brittany replied, still holding on to her injured foot. "Come over?" The Latina asked. The dancer replied with a simple 'sure' then she limped over to Santana's house, subconsciously checking herself in the mirror on the way out.

Maribel let the limping blonde into the house, exchanging a quick 'hello' and 'hi' on the way. Brittany took extra long to walk up the stairs due to her foot. She winced every time she put pressure on it.

She finally made it up the stairs to find Santana standing at the top. "Hey, are you okay?" Santana said as she noticed Brittany's limp.

"Yeah, uh, I bashed my foot." The blonde replied. "I'm fine." She assured.

"Are you sure? I can get some ice." Santana offered in a worried tone. She cared for the blonde; she didn't know why she was so nice and caring towards the blue-eyed beauty that she had only just met - usually she was so rapacious and hostile – but for some reason - that she didn't quite understand yet - she didn't mind.

"Really, its okay, thanks San." Brittany replied with a small, cute smile.

"Okay, let me know if you change your mind." Santana said caringly. "Alright, moving on to the reason I asked you to come here." Santana said with a small, excited, somewhat nervous smile on her face.

"Okay... should I be scared?" Brittany asked with a small smirk. "Follow me." Santana replied after a small chuckle.

Santana led Brittany to her room, both of the girl's smiles growing with each step. Just before they entered the room Santana said, "Close your eyes then come in."

"Is this the part where you kill me?" Brittany quipped. Both girls laughed and locked eyes until the blonde gently closed hers.

"Okay, when can I open them because I don't like not seeing around me?" Brittany laughed nervously. "Oh, sorry, one sec" Once Brittany had walked further into the room Santana said, "Okay, open."

Brittany opened her eyes slowly and there Santana was, holding the tiny, fluffy hamster in her hands. The dancer's face instantly lit up and her already big smile grew even further.

"What do you think?" Santana asked nervously as Brittany stood there speechless.

"San…whose? How? When?" The blonde stuttered in utter confusion.

"I got you a hamster." Santana said, still a little nervous. Brittany's smile was probably as big as it could get. "Oh my God, San!" She raised her voice in excitement, "But, but, what about my mum?" Brittany said as her smile dropped a little.

"I know, I know, so I thought I could keep him here and look after him then you can come over anytime to see him." Santana said with a shy smile.

"San, that's crazy, I'm not going to allow you to care for a hamster just for my sake. I'm sure a girl like you has better things to do anyways." Brittany didn't say it in a harsh, judgmental way; she said it more as a compliment. As in, a stunningly flawless girl like you most likely has more interesting and fun things to do rather than care for a hamster for the sake of the girl across the street.

"A girl like me?" Santana asked as the phrase confused her a little.

"Um, I mean, uh, like…you're... prettyandstuff so," She spat out "you most likely have better things to do… that are more fun." Brittany stuttered nervously.

Santana chuckled, "Okay first of all, I've just moved here so I have nothing to do. Secondly, I wouldn't have bought you a hamster if I wasn't willing to look after it." The brunette's voice softened as she finished her sentence. "I don't know too much about you but I can guess that you've been to hell and back," Brittany nodded slightly in response. "So you at least deserve a little, tiny hamster, right." The Latina said; her voice going high pitched at the end as she directed her attention to the little ball of fluff in her hands.

"How 'bout you let Britt here give you a little cuddle huh?" She said jokingly as she talked to the hamster.

Santana put the hamster on the table and Brittany picked him up right away. "Oh my god, San, he's so cute!" An ecstatic Brittany said.

There were a few comfortable moments of silence as they both watched the little hamster run around on the table and on Brittany's hands. Brittany finally decided to break the silence, "Thank you, San…" She pondered for a second on what to say next. "I don't know if you realize how much this actually means to me…I mean… no one ever goes out of their way to do things for me; it's always too much trouble for them." Brittany let everything she was thinking just flow into words, "This is by far the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I don't know how much thought you gave it or anything – it probably was just a simple thing for you, I don't know – but it means a lot basically. I just, I , I, I'm rambling…" she finished shyly.

Santana giggled a little, suddenly feeling quite shy. Where the hell did your confidence and game go…? The brunette thought to herself. "I just thought that a 'girl like you' deserves nice things." And the game and confidence is back. Santana deliberately mimicked the phrase the blonde used earlier which caused said blonde to blush.

"If I could… I would totally hug you right now." She said with a hint of dysphoria but managed to put a small smile on her pink lips.

"It's the thought that counts, right?" Santana said which managed to turn the blonde's timid – and vaguely sad - smile into a full on grin.

"What's got you two so happy?" Brittany and Santana's head whipped around to the door as they heard the sudden voice. Quinn was standing there with a small smirk on her face - obviously happy that she scared them.

"Look what San got me!" Brittany said with enthusiasm as she held the little hamster in her hands.

"I, err, um, that…yeah." Santana tried to cover up her soft side - that was clearly showing - but failed miserably.

"Okaaay…" Quinn said as she was a little confused by the whole situation. "It's not your problem, Q." Santana said a little harshly.

"Girls! It's dinner time!" Mrs. Lopez shouted up the stairs. "Brittany can join us!" She shouted again.

Brittany stood up from where she was sitting and almost fell to the ground when she put pressure on her injured foot. As a natural reflex Santana rushed to her side, luckily she remembered before she actually touching the blonde and she quickly moved away. Brittany's breathing sped up a bit as she saw the brunette rush to her side but she managed to stay calm as she was distracted by the pain in her now throbbing foot.

"Oh God… are you okay?" Santana asked hesitantly, scared of how her previous actions had affected the blonde.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Brittany said as the Latina let out a small sigh of relief. "My foot is freakin' killing me though." The blonde said as she winced slightly at the pain.

"Q, could you get an icepack and tell Mami what happened?" Santana said more as an order than a question.

"Err, what happened exactly?" Quinn said as she hadn't been there for the previous events.

Loosing her patience, Santana said, "Britt bashed her foot earlier, she needs ice. Go."

"Touchy much," Quinn muttered under her breath as she jogged out the room and down the stairs.

"Brittany hurt her foot or something so she needs ice. I don't really know what happened, San wasn't too clear about it." Quinn delivered in a slightly rushed manner.

As soon as the words came out of the petite blonde's mouth Maribel Lopez's motherly instincts kicked in; she rushed to the freezer and grabbed an icepack then handed it to Quinn saying, "Go, go, go," She gave the green-eyed girl a nudge to get her moving faster. Maribel then poured some water into a glass then grabbed some painkillers and walked up the stairs.

Meanwhile, upstairs: "How'd you hurt it?" Santana asked with genuine curiosity.

"Oh, um, I was dancing in my room, which is like the size of a peanut, and hit my foot on the table." Brittany grimaced at the reminder of the pain.

Before Santana could respond Quinn walked into the room clutching an icepack in her right hand. "Here," Quinn said as she threw the icepack to Santana who caught it swiftly.

The younger Latina walked over to the blonde in pain and once again remembered her condition before getting too close, "Um, here," She said awkwardly as she tossed the icepack on the bed next to where Brittany was sitting.

Maribel walked into the room holding a class of water in one hand and painkillers in the other, "What happened, sweetie?" Maribel asked as she put the water and pills on the table next to the bed.

"I uh, bashed my foot on my table." Brittany said shyly. Mrs. Lopez let out a soft gasp as she said, "Oh, honey. Here," she gestured to the painkillers, "take these." Brittany took the pills and thanked her new friend's mother.

"Hey, you two go eat, I'll bring some food up here for me and Britt," Santana directed at Quinn and her mother. Quinn raised one eyebrow – typical Fabray look – and smirked slightly. _Since when is San nice to people?_ Quinn thought as she watched her friend's features soften while looking to the taller blonde.

"Okay Querida. I'll bring you both some food." Maribel said as she headed out the door with Quinn.

"What are you gonna call him?" Santana asked once her mum and friend had left.

Brittany was sitting on the bed while leaning against the wall with the icepack resting on her foot. "Alfonzo," She said simply.

Santana was surprised by the blonde's sure answer, "Wow" she chuckled, "I didn't think you had a name already."

"Oh I've had that name planned since I was six." The blonde replied; they both giggled gently.

"Here you go girls," Maribel interrupted as she entered the room. She put the plates of lasagna on the tables and left the room after she got a 'thank you' from both the girls.

"Alfonzo…" Santana thought out loud, "I like it; it's cute." She said as she turned to Brittany and smiled. She was happy with the smile she received in return.

Quinn left the next morning for the long drive back to California. She promised her best friend that she would visit again soon after the family had settled into their new 'home'. It's hard for two best friends to live so far away from each other and Santana and Quinn were already feeling that. It wasn't the sexy times that they missed the most – they missed them too though – it was the real friendship they missed. Yes, they're still extremely close even though they're far away but it's not the same when you're so many miles away; it's harder to maintain that close bond.

"Santana?" Alejandro Lopez voiced as he and his family sat around the dining table enjoying dinner.

"Mm?" Santana mumbled in acknowledgement as she tucked into her dinner.

"What do you think yours and Quinn's future will be like?" Santana almost choked on her food when she heard the out-of-the-blue question being voiced by her father. Mrs. Lopez gave her husband a look that said: Leave it. This subject is not one to bring up. Alejandro ignored the look Maribel gave him.

"Why are you asking me this, Papi?" Santana questioned in frustration.

"Well, we've never talked about your relationship with Quinn. I'm just not sure I understand it." Mr. Lopez said as he continued to ignore the looks he was receiving from his wife.

"We're friends… you know that…" The younger Lopez replied; obviously not wanting to talk about the subject.

"You're not fooling anyone, Querida." Her father replied with a slightly sly smile. "Are you two dating?"

"What? No." The young Latina answered defensively. "Why do you need to know this anyways?" She asked.

"Santana, you're a young lady now. It's time to start making big decisions. There's no time for messing around anymore, Querida. You're growing up so fast and your Mami and I just want you to have a good life." Alejandro advised.

Santana thought about her father's words for a short while. "So are you saying I shouldn't be friends with Quinn so I'll have a better future?"

"Of course I'm not saying that. What goes on behind your locked door is no secret, Santana." Those words caused the younger, shocked Latina to blush immensely and caused the older Latina to almost choke on her food.

"Oh stop overreacting. We've all heard it." The mother and daughter were both utterly shocked by the words coming out of Mr. Lopez's mouth.

"Honey, I think that's enough now." Mrs. Lopez advised her husband.

"All I'm saying is that I think it would be good for your future if you take these things a little more serious. Maybe start to settle a bit; less partying and less 'messing around', if you know what I mean." Alejandro said.

Santana thought a lot about her dad's advice. Her parents didn't think the young Latina was really listening but she was; she took it all in and thought hard about it. She knew that feelings could get involved with Quinn, she knew one or the other could get hurt, she knew it could ruin her friendship, and she knew it was immature and quite selfish. Was she really willing to ruin her friendship just for sex? No. She knew she wasn't. Friendship should definitely come before sex and Santana knew that. She also knew that she was growing up fast and eventually should settle down. When? She didn't know. All she knew is that she would settle at some point. With Quinn? No. Quinn's a friend; only a friend. _No more messing around…with Quinn_. She thought. _Quinn and I are too close. It could ruin everything... Ugh, life's hard. I'll call her tonight I guess…_

**A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! Thanks to everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed! **

**Question! What do you all think of the chapter/story? Favourite parts?**

**Also, who do you want Quinn's love interest to be?! Rachel? Puck? Give your suggestions. **

**Of course Brittana will ALWAYS be the focus and center of attention but it would be weird if I didn't mention the main character's best friend's life, right? Haha**

**Twitter: miadokay**

**Don't be shy. Haha **

**I really appreciate reviews because I can write the next chapters with your words in my head. Therefore you'll most likely like the next chapters better!**

**That review button wants to be tapped! Lol **


	7. 7 Puckerman

**Authors note: This chapter was supposed to be finished quite a while ago but a lot of unexpected things happened. Sorry 'bout that. **

**GudrunGleek – Thanks for letting me know your favourite part. :)**

**Guest**_**("**__This is one of the greatest stories that I've found on this site."__**) **_**Thank you so much, that's such a huge compliment! **

**This one goes out to chichimerah! Thanks for following me on twitter and always being so nice. Hope you enjoy the chapter and sorry for taking so long! lol**

**Thanks to everyone who keeps reading even if you don't review! Also thank you to those who favourited/followed me as an author, that means a lot! :) Anyways, enjoy!**

A week later and Santana hadn't called it off with Quinn. She chickened out, to say the least. She was scared of feelings and she was terrified that Quinn might have them for her. Quinn was her best friend and of course she didn't want to hurt her so… she chickened out.

They still had their usual daily conversations, whether it was texting, calling, or skyping; they talked. But Santana could never bring herself to break it off. She just couldn't do it.

"So…" Brittany dragged out, "How's Quinn?" She asked Santana awkwardly. Brittany had been slightly awkward talking about Quinn ever since she saw them kiss. It was a shock and she felt kind of like she needed conformation.

The two girls were sitting at their spot by the water as usual. They were eating ice-cream and dangling their feet lightly in the water.

"She's fine," Santana answered in short.

"Is she visiting again soon?" Brittany asked again and if you listened closely you would hear a hint of jealousy.

"I don't know exactly when but she'll visit once we've settled in." The brunette replied with a small smile.

"Are you okay, San?" The dancer asked when she sensed some sadness in the Latina's voice and features.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Santana said trying to put a smile on her face but not doing a very good job.

"You sure?" Brittany said as she inched the slightest bit closer to the Latina. It was a small movement but it felt nice to both the blonde and the brunette. They exchanged a small smile then looked away shyly.

"It's just I… it's hard… moving here." She forced out. If it were anyone else she wouldn't have stayed a second after the question. It confused her – why she was so nice to Brittany. "Don't get me wrong it's a nice place with nice people," She gave Brittany a small smile after the implication, "But it's not what I'm used to. I miss my friends…" She said in a low voice.

"I get it. It must be hard with long distance… friendships." She avoided the word 'relationship'.

"It is… but I'll get over it." She shrugged off as she put her guard back up.

"Well I'm here… if you need a friend or someone to talk to. I know it's not the same, and I'm far different from any of your friends… or Quinn, but I'm here."

Brittany's words lowered Santana's guard again. No one has ever lowered Santana's figurative guard twice in one day. What she said made Santana feel so wanted; Santana never felt wanted, she always felt used or like a waste of space. She liked this new feeling; she liked Brittany. She hadn't realized how much she liked Brittany yet; she still sort of saw her as a friend while she's in Ohio then she'll move back to California when she's older and more stable.

"Thank you, Britt. That actually means a lot." The Latina finally replied after getting a bit lost in her thoughts. There was a long comfortable silence where they just watched the water and stole small glances at one another.

"Oh, it's almost dinner time. I should get going." The blonde said as she realized the time. Brittany started to stand up but sat down right away as the pain from her foot ran through her.

"This damn foot is getting on my nerves." Brittany said as she tried to laugh off the pain. Santana chuckled a little but she couldn't bring herself laugh properly; she worried for the blonde.

"Are you alright? Do you need… help?" Santana asked even though she didn't know how she could help the injured dancer.

Before Brittany could answer the question Santana's phone started to ring. The Latina held up a finger as if to say one second and she answered the phone.

"Hey, you," Santana said happily but she had no smile on her face. She looked slightly distressed and Brittany noticed. "Hey Q, can I call you back? I'm kind of in the middle of something important… I know, I know, I said sorry. I promise to call you back this time." She said with a hint of frustration. She then hung up the phone and let out a small sigh of relief.

"Is everything okay?" Brittany asked as she sensed the frustration in the Latina's voice. Santana didn't answer the question; she just looked to the ground.

Brittany realized that Santana wasn't going to answer her question, "Girl problems?" The blonde asked with a chuckle trying to lighten the Latina's mood.

Santana was taken back by the dancer's confidence but she laughed nonetheless. "I guess you could say that." She replied.

"Well, my parents are going out after dinner. Want to come over and hang out or something? Take your mind off things?" Brittany asked, slightly nervous. "That sounds great." The brunette replied with a smile.

Santana knocked on the Pierce's door for the fourth time and she was beginning to wonder if nobody was home. Just as she was leaving the door swung open in one fast motion. Santana turned around and was startled by the sight. There was Brittany; her hair dripping wet and her body only wrapped in a towel. The Latina stood there in shock unable to move. Her eyes were glued to Brittany; her longish blonde hair with small droplets of water falling from it; her long, long, smooth legs that were barely covered at all by the towel; her pale, bare arms, one of which was holding up her towel; the top of her breasts which were only just showing above the towel. Last but definitely not least, her beautiful face; those dazzling baby-blues which were so mesmerizing; her pale, beautifully defined cheekbones and, of course, her small pink lips which now showed a small embarrassed smile.

"Well hi there." Brittany said in a very small, shy voice. Santana was brought back to reality by Brittany's voice. (The best way to be brought back to reality)

"Uh, hello," Santana tried to compose herself but was failing quite miserably. She tried to look away but those blue eyes held her there.

Brittany was happily surprised with the response she got from the Latina. She wasn't expecting it, that's for sure.

"Um, come in?" Santana quickly and nervously obliged. "I'll go get dressed. Um, make yourself comfortable." Brittany said with a grin then ran up to her room. The Latina breathed a sigh of relief when the half-naked dancer left. It's not that she wasn't enjoying the view; it was that she didn't want to embarrass herself further.

"Sorry about that." Brittany said as she walked into the open living room to see Santana sitting comfortable on the couch. "No problem." Santana said with a smile as she turned to look at the blue-eyed girl.

Brittany was now wearing a short pair of shorts and a slightly baggy t-shirt that hung off one shoulder; her hair still wet. "Wow…" Santana said so quietly Brittany only just managed to hear.

"What? What's up?" Brittany said as she looked over herself to make sure everything was in check.

"Huh? What? Did I say that out loud?" Santana said as she mentally slapped herself for letting that slip. Brittany chuckled shyly and nodded, still not quite sure what was going through the Latina's mind. "Oh. Umm… I, uh…" The Latina was so flustered; she had no idea what to say.

_Is this seriously happening right now? She's just a girl. I never have problems talking to girls; I'm smooth, I have game. What the hell is happening to me? All I can do to get out of this is flirt. Easy._

Santana clears her throat and straightens her back. "I mean, you look very beaut… hot. You look hot." She clears her throat again. She was nervous. Maybe Brittany wouldn't like Santana taking an interest in her looks. Maybe she would get freaked out because Santana's a girl. There were so many possible outcomes running through the brunette's head and none of them were good. She was never nervous around girls, even if she didn't know their sexual orientation.

Almost all of Santana's worry disappeared when the blonde girl next to her started to blush quite uncontrollably. There was still a part of her that was extremely nervous around Brittany though.

"Umm, thank you." Brittany said shyly as she subtly giggled and blushed intensely. She wasn't sure how to react. No one had ever called her 'hot' before – except Noah Puckerman, but she tried to forget that. She'd been called things like 'pretty' or 'cute' but that was only by her mother and adults around the neighborhood.

_Maybe Santana didn't mean anything by it. Maybe she says that about a lot of people. I'm nothing special_, Brittany thought nervously.

"Just speaking the truth…" Santana mumbled.

"Sorry? I didn't catch that."

"Shall we get some food?" She covered up. "Oh. Yeah, sure." Brittany replied.

The two girls then watched movies and ate snacks while sharing laughs and smiles and small glances.

It was around 2:30 at night and Brittany couldn't sleep. She had walked around, she had had a glass of water, and she had even counted sheep. She just couldn't sleep. Her last resort was to dance. Dancing relaxed her and also tired her out; it was the perfect combination. Her foot was still a little hard to dance on but she had started to walk on it again. She figured she'd try it out and see how much pressure she can put on it.

She started dancing fairly slow then sped up bit by bit. She danced more careful than usual but it still had the same effect. She was starting to relax and feel free.

As she was spinning on her good foot she glanced out the window briefly then glanced out again on the second spin. She came to a sudden halt when she saw Santana across the street. She was with someone. They were close; too close. It definitely wasn't Quinn. It was a man.

"This was funnnn. But you gotta go mister. Mmkay? Go." Santana slurred and giggled in a drunken state as she started to walk away from the young man.

"Hey no faaair. We drank and, umm, we danced, we maybe even kissed a lil bit but every m-mam, uh, _man_, deserves a goodnight kiss riiight?" He said as he pulled her back to him and put his arms around her waist. Santana giggled and smoothed her hand over his mohawk until she reached the back of his neck. "Wellll, I guess that's kinda quite fair. Mhm."

Brittany leant out the window slightly to try to gain a better view of this mystery man. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw his face. It was Noah Puckerman: the man that gave her hell. He was wearing his trademark smirk; the same one he was wearing when he came on to Brittany.

She saw Noah pull Santana up against his body as his arms wrapped around her waist. She watched as they giggled and talked together. Then she saw Santana lean in and peck his lips. Obviously he wanted more so he pulled her back and kissed her more intensely.

What had started as an innocent peck had turned into a whole lot more. Puck's tongue had found its way into the Latina's mouth and his hands had found themselves resting on her ass. Santana was in a drunken state of mind so she didn't protest.

"How 'bout we take this inside ay?" Puck said as his lips travelled to the Latina's neck. Santana's hands were firmly pressed against the mohawked boy's chest. "Nah can't do that. The parentals are home." Santana slurred as her hormones started to get the best of her. "Well, ya know. My, my, my car is right overrrr… there." Puck said as he looked around for his car finally locating it. "Yeah I know." The brunette replied, obviously not understanding the boy's implications. "Les go!" Puck said as he pulled Santana over to his car.

Brittany watched them kiss and watched their hands travel around each other. She watched them jog over to a car and kiss against it for a short while until they entered the car. She couldn't see them anymore and she was confused when the car didn't leave. She stayed at the window for a while until she finally gave up. She walked over to her bed and rubbed her face with her hands as she let out a long sigh. What she hadn't realized is that very few small tears had fallen down her face without her acknowledgement. She sighed again then lay down on her bed in hopes of getting to sleep.

It was 6am and Brittany was all ready to go for her morning jog. She left the house then stopped mid-step when she saw the same car she was watching the night before across the street. There was a small amount of movement from inside the car until a small figure stumbled out. It was Santana in all her hung-over glory. The Latina turned around and made immediate eye contact with the blonde across the street. She gave a wimpish smile then walked briskly to her house as the car drove off.

Santana tiptoed into her house then tiptoed up the stairs and into her bedroom. She was a pro at sneaking in and out of the house. She'd had years of practice. She flopped onto her bed and immediately fell asleep.

It was around 11am and Brittany had been thinking about Santana nonstop that morning. She felt sorry for her because the Latina had no idea what kind of guy Noah Puckerman is; but then again, maybe that was just the kind of guy she was looking for.

The blonde dancer had seen Mrs. Lopez leave the house earlier that day and she knew that Mr. Lopez would be at work. She packed up a small bag and headed over to the Lopez residence.

Santana stirred in her sleep when she heard a faint knocking at her bedroom door. She didn't bother to open her eyes though.

Brittany slowly walked into the slumbering Latina's room. She noticed Santana move slightly with every noise she made. The blonde glanced over to Santana's desk to see Alfonzo running through the toy tubes in his cage. The cute sight made her smile as she continued to watch.

"Hey there, creeper." Santana joked in a very tired, hung-over voice.

"Whoa, I didn't know you were awake," Brittany said in a startled tone. "Oh, so you came here to watch me sleep?" Santana quipped in reply. Brittany chuckled nervously as she tried to collect herself.

"I came to uh, bring you some painkillers, food and, of course, coffee." The blonde said with a cute smile. Santana's smile couldn't have been sweeter. "Aww, Britt. That's so sweet. Wait, how'd…?" Santana said in a sweet tone that soon turned to confusion.

"You don't remember? I, uh, saw you getting out of, umm, a car. This morning. You smiled at me?" Santana looked completely embarrassed. "Oh that. Um, I, uh. Last night I um…"

"Yeah, I saw" Brittany said which caused Santana's eyes to go impossibly large. "Oh! Not like that. I mean…well. I looked out my window and saw you two. Umm, I didn't see much really. I would have looked away if I did see anything like _that_. I uh, I didn't _mean_ to see you two. It's not like I was staring or stalking or anything like that, I just-" Santana cut her off before she could ramble any further. "Britt, Britt, don't worry about it."

There was a small silence as Brittany took a deep breath. "So you and Quinn aren't…" She trailed off slightly but finished her sentence when she noticed the confusion on the Latina's face, "like… together anymore?"

"Oh, um," Santana cleared her throat, "We were never actually together." Brittany's face was full of confusion at this point. She had seen them kiss and hug and play around like a couple a lot.

Santana sensed the confusion and cleared her throat again. "We um, just kind of had _'fun'_…" Realization hit Brittany's features and she mouthed 'oh'.

"Shall we eat?" Brittany successfully changed the subject when she realized the slight awkwardness of the conversation. Santana nodded to the question and they ate their food together.

"I brought cheese for Alfonzo." Brittany said after they had finished their brunch. Well, lunch for Britt and breakfast for Santana.

She walked over to the little hamster's cage and picked him up in her hand. "Hey lil guy, want some cheese?" She fed him a small amount of cheese while a big grin was plastered on her face. Santana couldn't help but mirror that big grin as she watched the all too sweet moment. She knew in that moment that she'd never regret getting little Alfonzo, even if it was just for this small scene in front of her.

**A/N: I wasn't too proud of this chapter really but I hoped you all liked it. (Actually slightly nervous about posting it D: lol) I have big plans for future chapters I just have to find a way to build up to them.**

**I'm pretty busy these days and rarely get a chance to sit down and write. Also sometimes the inspiration is non-existent. So I'll try to get the chapters done as soon as I possibly can!**

**Please drop down a review! Reviews really make me happy! XD Also let me know your fav part and any things you want to happen in the story. :)**

**Every single one of you reviewers voted Faberry (which is good because that had my vote too.) so that'll be coming soon. Spoilers! Lol**

**Follow my twitter for updates on how the writing is going. (Maybe even little spoilers here and there.) Also feel free to chat with me if you want!**

**Twitter: miadokay**

**If you prefer it, I have tumblr. **

**Tumblr: proudlysobrittana**

**PM me if you want!**


	8. 8 Strong Person

**I know, I know. I've taken such a long time to update. Laptop was broken for ages, so sorry. Thank you so so much for the reviews. Seriously, they make my day. This chapter I think is my longest chapter so far and I hope you all like it!**

**Beth: Thank you so so much! The sweetest review yet! I hope you keep reading and enjoy this chapter and I'm trying to update faster! :)**

"...and finish cleaning up your room then help me prepare dinner for your father, he'll be home in about an hour if another emergency doesn't hold him up" _or another woman_, Maribel held back, "Also you need to start looking up colleges to apply for, you're already behind, Mija. And don't forget to..." Maribel rambled on as Santana rolled her eyes, luckily her mother didn't notice. As Maribel was talking there was only one thing going through Santana's mind, or rather, one person. Brittany. Brittany, Brittany, Brittany. What was Brittany doing right now? How was her ankle feeling? Was she hungry? Thirsty? Tired? Bored? Most importantly, was she thinking about the Latina?

Santana was brought out of her little dream world by the sound of her mother's phone ringing. "What now, Alejandro?" Maribel was clearly stressed before Santana's father called but now she was even nearer to breaking point. "Of course _honey_" Maribel spat in a sarcastic manner. Santana wasn't shocked in the slightest, she had seen and heard her parents fight countless of times. To Santana it seemed like they fought over the tiniest of things. I.e. the dishes not being washed, not being home in time for dinner, not making dinner, Santana not cleaning her room; little, tiny things that didn't matter at all. Santana never understood why they even bothered with such tiny things, she had no idea there was an underlying reason to all these little, sometimes big, fights. She thought her father was loyal to her mother even when he was pissed beyond imagination. She thought that when her father was 'held up at work' he really was held up at work. She thought that her father really did have to go on multiple business trips each month and not just one. She thought her father was a good man not to mention husband.

"And don't expect to find dinner waiting for you when you get back!" Maribel practically shouted into the phone before hanging up.

"Why are you so hard on him? He's working to pay for us, remember?" Santana asked her mother after watching her argue over the phone. Maribel's hands balled up into fists and clenched. Hard. She couldn't take her anger out on her daughter. She couldn't tell her daughter the truth. If she said anything else she would seem completely unreasonable. "Please. Just... go to your room or something Santana." Maribel managed to stay calm. Santana was confused so she just let out a heavy sigh and jogged up the stairs to her room.

After lying on her bed for near to fifteen minutes Santana got up, grabbed her iPod, earphones and slipped some shoes on then jogged downstairs. "I'm going out Ma!" She waited for a few seconds and, as she suspected, her mother didn't respond so she just left.

Santana had thought about her parents fights before. She used to escape to her room and just cry into her pillow and listen to the most depressing songs. She used to think too much and too hard about their fights. She was an over-thinker and ended up making herself depressed. But after a couple years she realized that laying on her bed crying and thinking too much was not helping at all so she started doing things to make her feel better.

At the time Quinn was basically her only friend. Quinn's parents, now divorced, were fighting also so she and Santana would sneak out. They'd do things to make them excited and to give themselves a thrill. It started of with small things like stealing a chocolate bar from a shop, after a while that wasn't enough; they'd sneak into closed swimming pools or indoor skate parks or lifeguard towers; omewhere to escape from the drama of their families and get a thrill at the same time. They could have just watched a horror movie...

Mostly the root of Santana's bad behavior was her parents fighting. They would fight and be completely oblivious to Santana then they'd need to have some alone time to calm down, Santana would always leave them alone after fights otherwise they would get mad with her and take out their left over anger by pointing out their daughter's faults. So while her parents were calming down she'd sneak out and, as said before, do something to give her a rush which almost always resulted in her getting into trouble.

She still cried though. She still cried when she heard the shouting and arguing. She'd go out to distracted herself but sometimes it was unsuccessful and she'd let go of all resolve and just... cry.

After running up the street for five minutes, with her music blasting into her ears, she couldn't take it any longer. She moved a hand up to her face and wiped her cheek. Yep, just as she thought, tears were slowly falling from the sad brown eyes. She slowed down her running until she came to a complete stop. It was late evening so the streets were abandoned. She was at that stretch of path and road where there were no houses and no shops. Just road and path.

Santana spotted a streetlight next to her; she leaned her back against it and slid down slowly until she was sitting on the floor. She looked up and squinted as the light at the top flickered on and off until it decided to stay on. She sighed heavily and pressed her palms against her eyes as tears started to fall faster.

After about ten minutes of slouching against the streetlight and crying into her knees, which were pulled up against her chest, Santana heard a car in the distance. She looked up and watched her father's car zoom past her and carry on down the street. If she wanted to stay away while her parents fight she'd have to wait a LEAST another 2 to 3 hours. She could tell just by hearing the phone call that this was going to be a big fight. There was no way she was going home tonight. Well she couldn't stay slouched against a streetlight all night. Of course the first thing she thought of was Brittany. But what was she supposed to say? _Hey Britt, yeah so my parents are at each other's throats, probably literally, so like could I crash at your house tonight. Oh and by the way you are extremely attractive, you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Sometimes I get the urge to take you by the waist, pull you close and..._ Well… Santana got a little carried away with that thought.

She had been so lost in thought that Santana hadn't realized how far she had walked until she arrived at Brittany's front door. Before she could even think about pulling her hand away she had already knocked on the door. She turned around quickly, hoping that her knock wasn't loud enough to be heard.

"Santana?" Santana stopped in her tracks when she heard the smooth voice, which was barely above a whisper, call her name. She slowly turned on her heel and saw the blue-eyed beauty peeping through the small gap where the door was slightly ajar.

"Um, yeah... hi." Santana said hesitantly with a forced, and pretty pathetic looking, smile. The forced aspect of the smile disappeared completely when the blonde at the door smiled back.

The door slammed shut suddenly and Santana's smile dropped. She was relieved almost immediately though when she heard the door-chain rattle until it was unlocked. Brittany swung the door wide open now that the chain was undone.

"Hi" she mimicked the Latina's shyness and took a step forward, as did Santana. They were quite far away from each other at this moment but both urged to be closer to the other, even if it was just another step. Brittany took a small step forward then Santana followed her lead.

"What can I do you for, Santana?" Brittany asked shyly with a small smile playing on her lips. The Latina felt embarrassed and suddenly found her feet quite entertaining.

"I um... I don't know why I'm here actually..." she said slowly. Brittany's eyes were full of confusion but she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Santana knew she was making a fool of herself and she couldn't think of any way to redeem herself.

The blonde looked at Santana's face in detail for a second and noticed that her eyes were red and slightly puffy and if Brittany squinted slightly she could see tear stains on her tanned cheeks.

"S-Santana, have you been... crying?" Brittany asked in the softest of tones as she took a small step forward.

Santana opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't seem to force any words out. She looked to the ground for a moment to collect her thoughts, "I, I... um, Britt?" She said sounding so unsure.

"Santana, you're worrying me, are you alright?"

"Can I... can I stay at your place... tonight? There's just a lot of crap going on at my place. My, my parents are um, they're not really-" Santana rambled on until the blonde cut her off. "San, San, calm down." She put her arms out to gesture then pulled them back abruptly when she realized how close she had gotten to the brunette across from her. She had literally felt the Latina's body heat. They both stopped for a moment and looked at Brittany's hands. Brittany was breathing heavily as she took a few rushed steps backwards. She closed her eyes and took deep, calming breaths as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Britt I-" Santana started but stopped immediately as Brittany held up one finger, not in a harsh manner, and continued breathing deeply. They stood there motionless for a few moments, the only movement being the rising and falling of their chests from deep breaths. The blonde dared to look up at the Latina, she immediately met her eyes and Santana gave her a tiny but reassuring smile.

"I'm so sorry I um-"

"Britt, don't. You should never ever apologize for that," Santana said wholeheartedly with a soft look in her now tearless eyes.

Brittany just stared at the brunette for a moment. No one had ever been so accepting and reassuring before. People always got freaked out or just accepted her apology; no one had ever... understood her.

After a small thankful smile and moment or two of looking into each other's eyes Brittany spoke up. "So... you wanna sleep over?" She asked casually like she had just thought of the idea.

"I thought you'd never ask." Santana beamed in a cheesy way. Brittany giggled which caused the Latina to smile wider than she already had been.

"Who was at the door, Brittany?" A tired voice called out from the kitchen.

"Ma, I thought you went to bed" Brittany asked in surprise as she walked into the house.

"I heard the door open. I'm a light sleeper remember? What are you doing outside at this time?" She asked sounding quite annoyed as she rubbed her tired eyes.

Santana slowly walked into the house looking quite shy and embarrassed. "I'm so sorry Ms. Pierce, it's my fault. I-" Santana started but was cut of by Susan.

"Oh don't worry about it Santana, you're always welcome here. But you do know it's night time right?" Susan said trying not to be annoyed because she honestly liked Santana.

"Right. I'm very sorry, I'll let you both get back to sleep," Santana started as she turned around to leave.

"Hey ma, can Santana sleep over? I mean, she's already here." Brittany asked her mother with a pleading look; a look that said _this is important, I'll tell you later._

"I'm too tired to argue so sure," Susan sighed. "Behave, you two!" She called out as she walked up the stairs to her room.

"Thank you Britt, you don't know how helpful you're actually being." Santana gave a weak smile.

"Anytime, San." Brittany grinned which made the Latina smile wider.

"Oh hey, you got a pretty good view of my room," Santana chuckled looking out Brittany's bedroom window.

Brittany chuckled nervously, "Yeah, and a good view it is." Santana laughed a little shyly and looked to the floor.

"Okay, your bed is ready. Do you want to borrow some pyjamas?" Brittany asked as she finished putting the blanket on the bed set up on the floor.

The blonde didn't wait for an answer; she just looked at Santana's clothes then started rummaging through her pyjama drawer. She pulled out a pair of black cotton trousers and a purple t-shirt with a pocket on the front. She threw it in Santana's direction then continued rummaging.

Brittany turned around from her drawer to find Santana in nothing but her underwear and in the process of putting her pyjama trousers on. Brittany couldn't pull her eyes away, she knew she was staring but she almost didn't care. She let her eyes wonder from the Latina's thighs - which were beautifully tanned and smooth looking - up to her amazingly toned abs; each muscle defined beautifully. Just as her eyes started wondering higher she was shook out her thoughts, "Like what you see?" The Latina winked. The blonde blushed probably the most she's ever blushed as she quickly spun on her heel to face away from the half naked Latina in her bedroom. "I'm kidding" Santana chuckled as she noticed Brittany's embarrassment.

"You can turn around, I'm dressed now" Santana laughed as Brittany turned around hesitantly with her eyes closed. Brittany opened her eyes slowly and relaxed a little when she saw the fully dressed Latina smiling at her.

"Um," Brittany tried her voice for the first time since she saw the Latina half naked, "it gets cold. In the night." She managed to finish as she gently threw an over-head hoodie Santana's way. The hoodie had Brittany's name printed at the bottom of the front in cursive and above was a big picture of a duck.

Santana looked at the hoodie for a second and it made her smile. She pulled it over her head and looked to Britt, "Thanks, it's cute," she smiled. Brittany smile back shyly.

"Are you tired or do wanna watch a movie or something?" Brittany asks as she fiddles with her fingers. She feels more nervous talking to Santana than she does with anyone else. She really likes the Latina. More than she's liked any of her other friends. She feels a strong connection to her; the problem is that she doesn't know if Santana feels it too. She guesses that's why she feels so nervous all the time.

"I'm up for a movie" Santana smiles.

Brittany sits on her bed and Santana sits on her, surprisingly comfortable, mattress on the floor as they watch some romantic comedy that was playing on tv. It was one of those movies that you hate to love; it's cheesy and predictable but you can't bring yourself to change the channel.

The final scene ends with the young man giving a corny speech, confessing his love for the woman. And, of course, they end with a big kiss as the overly dramatic music plays in the background. Santana rolls her eyes even though she's kind of enjoying it.

Brittany mutes the tv once the credits start rolling and looks nervously over to Santana. "wha, what was your first... kiss like?" She manages to ask. She's completely shocked that she actually got the courage to ask. The blonde has always wanted to ask someone about their first kiss but she never had the courage. She'd asked her mum before but she didn't really tell her what she wanted to hear.

"Girl or guy?" Santana chuckles. Brittany shrugs as she looks nervously to her lap.

"Well, I was twelve when I had a proper kiss with a guy. It was alright I guess, we were chilling on the school grass at recess." She says coolly. She laughed a little as she reminisced.

Brittany smiled as she relaxed a tiny bit. "How bout... first girl?" She asked hesitantly.

"I think I was about 14?" She says as she thinks back, "Yeah. Me and a friend went to the cinema and got bored so we made out in the back row." She chuckled at the memory.

Brittany nodded in response. "So... what was your first... really meaningful kiss? If you don't mind me asking... you don't have to answer that, I'm sorry. I'm just curious I guess I-"

"Hey hey, it's cool. Ask whatever you want, I won't answer if I don't want to." She chuckled a little and it made Brittany smile.

"First really meaningful kiss..." Santana said to herself as she thought about the question. "Well I dated a girl just over a year ago... she... I, um"

"Hey, forget I asked, it's not my business anyway." Brittany says sweetly as she sensed it was a sore subject. Santana smiles a grateful smile at the blonde.

Santana opens her mouth to ask Britt the same sort of questions but stops herself when she realized it's probably a sensitive subject.

Brittany laughs a little bit when she notices Santana's hesitation. "No" She simply states.

"Huh? No what?" Santana asks, confused.

"No, I've never kissed a girl." She said with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh... so no guy either?" Santana looked a little confused but she figured it was because she mentioned kissing a girl.

"Oh god, no." She laughed a little. "I've never really felt much for guys."

"Hey there's another thing we have in common!" Santana laughed a little.

"Yeah... it doesn't really matter who I have feelings for though... it's not like anything's going to happen." Brittany says dejectedly.

Santana looked at her with wide eyes. She had never really thought of Brittany's condition in that way (which is surprising for Santana)

"Hey, don't think like that, Britt. I mean, the physical stuff is great but in the end it all comes down to the emotional connection in a relationship. That's what keeps a couple strong. I'm sure there are people that would understand your situation completely and someone who will love you enough to look past it." Santana tells the blonde wholeheartedly.

Santana is quite surprised by what she just said. She's probably been thinking it for a while just never applied it to herself.

Brittany let's out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she looks deep into Santana's eyes. She knew she liked Santana before but now...

"Santana... that is possibly the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." Santana's taken back when she hears that. "I mean, people say nice things. But it's always things like 'I'm sure you'll do fine on your own' or 'you've always got friends'. It's never... I just... thank you, San. You don't know how much that means to me."

"No, thank you! I honestly think you're making me a better person. I mean we haven't even known each other long but I just really admire you. I don't what kind of troubles have come with your… situation, but you seem like a really strong person. It makes me think about how easy I've got it compared to you yet I'm always complaining about life and how it sucks. You've just… made me appreciate life… and the little things."

Brittany was almost certain that a small tear had rolled down her cheek but she didn't care in the slightest. She knew in that moment that Santana wasn't just an average friend. She was someone special, someone Brittany needed in her life. The brunette had made her smile and laugh countless times already that night and most of all she had made her feel special, in the best way possible.

Brittany had no idea what came over her but suddenly she was sitting next to Santana's mattress on the floor – at about arms length from each other. She could still feel the tear on her face and was fairly sure another one had fallen since. She looked down to the Latina's hand resting on the mattress and at an agonizingly slow pace she started to move her own hand towards Santana's.

Brittany was reciting Santana's words over and over in her head to stop herself from freaking out_. 'Making me a better person.' 'Admire you' 'Strong person'_ Strong person.

The very tip of the blonde's pinky brushed the side of the Santana's pinky. The feeling made Brittany flinch a little but she managed to stay strong. Their bodies were fairly far away still but this was already a big deal for Brittany. _One step at a time._She thought.

With only her smallest finger, Brittany very gently stroked the top of Santana's pinky. The blonde closed her eyes for a second and took in a deep breath then looked back to their small fingers.

Santana didn't dare move or say a word. She was so nervous it took all her strength for her hands not to shake. Brittany had mentioned the extent of her phobia to Santana. She _never_ touched her friends; she barely went near them – not that she had many to go near to. She hardly ever touched her mother but sometimes she would give it everything she's got, for her mother's sake. Therefore, Santana's mind was all over the place.

A few more stray tears had fallen from Brittany's eyes but that was far from her thoughts. She was touching Santana. She was touching someone and she liked it. She was uncomfortable and nervous as hell and felt like she could break any second but at the same time… she loved it.

After about twenty seconds of Brittany exploring the Latina's pinky finger with her own, Santana dared to move a little. She lifted her little finger ever so slightly and was pleasantly surprised when the blonde didn't jump away or have any sort of bad reaction. Santana took another risk by moving her said finger up a little more. Their pinkies meet at the tip until Brittany finds the bottom of Santana's finger; she strokes the smooth skin softly and it send shivers through both their bodies. Santana's fingers twitch slightly and it causes the blonde to smile as another petite tear falls. The brunette cautiously moves her pinky up the blonde's then back down again.

Brittany finally decides to pull her eyes away from their touching fingers to look at the Latina. She finds Santana's eyes already looking at her and she swears for a moment time stands still. She still feels Santana's pinky stroking her own; the fact that she's not watching it happen is scaring her but the Latina's eyes reassure her that nothing more than those tiny brushes are going to happen. She finally leaves Santana's eyes to look over the rest of her face; she sees a tiny tear rolling down her caramel cheek and watches as the girl who's sending shivers through her body bites her lip a little, probably out of nervousness – Brittany has the same habit. Brittany finds herself looking into beautiful dark brown orbs once again. She tucks her lips into her mouth and smiles at the girl across from her. Santana gives a bright smile and Brittany looks back to their hands.

_Really strong person_. The blonde plays Santana's words in her head once more before she bravely links their pinkies. Santana instantly responds, slightly tightening her little finger around the blonde's. They find each other's eyes automatically and give shy smiles as Brittany lets out a shaky breath.

"Are you alright, B?" Santana finally spoke because she really didn't want to continue if Brittany was feeling uncomfortable. She spoke so softy and her voice was a little shaky. The Latina understood Brittany extremely well even though she didn't know all that much about her past. She just seemed to know what to say and the right time to say it which made the blonde relax and feel more comfortable around Santana than with most people. They both felt great trust for the other and had this amazing bond.

Brittany let out a soft chuckle and sniffed a little because of her small tears, "Yeah, I… this is unreal." She chuckled a little again. The blonde was in shock and everything was just so indescribable at this point she had no idea what to say. "I'm totally speechless right now, San" She smiled and looked into the Latina's eyes. Santana flashed a megawatt smile back and tightened her pinky in response.

Santana them put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her phone, Brittany, whose heart was still beating like horses hooves on a racetrack, looked at her a little confused. "I want to remember this moment for the rest of my life," The Latina smiled as she lifted her phone and snapped a picture of Brittany's face. Brittany looked down and giggled so Santana couldn't get another picture of her face, then she decided to take the Latina's phone and snapped a picture of their intertwined pinkies. Santana and Brittany locked eyes once again and their heartbeats simultaneously sped up.

They sat there for god knows how long just talking about random things that came to mind, pinkies still intertwined. They talked about music, what school was like, friends they've had, friends they still have.

"I have friends it's just that I'm not close to any of them. I barely see them. I text some of them like once a week. They know my situation and they're nice about it but I can tell they don't really understand it, it just confuses them and it pushes them away. You know, when friends hang out they always hug and mess around but friendship with me is so restrictive. They're always so conscious of how close they are to me and it's like they're filtering every sentence they say in case they say something wrong. And I can't just go to the mall or get the bus somewhere, there are crowds _everywhere_… I mean, I get it, it must be really hard but I guess if they were real friends they would think about how hard it is for me and maybe make more of an effort instead of just counting me out of everything they do… it's just like they can't adjust. Not even a little bit. And, I mean, they don't have to go anywhere near me to text me. I don't know, I guess I'm being selfish. If I were in their shoes I probably wouldn't even bother being friends with me." Brittany had poured out her insecurities to Santana without even noticing, it just came naturally.

"I understand. That must be living hell. But you are in no ways selfish. If they can't be bothered to try and hang out with you or even text you then they're just dumb friends… and they don't know what they're missing," Brittany smiled a little, "And I want you to know that I'm not hanging out with you because I feel sorry for you or pity you. Our friendship is real and your phobia is just something that I'll willingly learn to live with… and I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job so far." She squeezed Brittany's pinky a little, "I really like you Britt… and when I'm with you I forget about any issues either of us have. It's just you and me minus all the troubles of life. Everything just comes so naturally." Brittany had tears rolling down her cheeks but she didn't care, she was too busy staring into the beautiful brown eyes across from her.

"Santana," Brittany's voice cracked so she tried again, "San… thank you so much. Oh my god, you're amazing. Seriously, how did I get so lucky when I met you?" Santana smiled and didn't answer the obviously rhetorical question she just gave Britt's pinky a squeeze and said, "I ask myself the same thing every day."

**Thanks so much for reading!**

**Side note, I know nothing about Ohio so I'm basically making the place up and using Ohio as the name, hope you can look past that haha.**

**Also, if you want, you can check out my Christmas one-shot I wrote! (Warning: loads of FLUFF!) :)**

**Twitter: miadokay**

**Tumblr: proudlysobrittana**

**Feel free to PM me, tweet me, DM me (I follow back), or ask on tumblr. I'm open to conversation and I'll answer any questions! Lol**

**I love all of you who follow his story and favourited it! And I especially love you reviewers! You're all awesome. Thank you so much!**


End file.
